Love is in the air.

The love for Fall, that is (and for other things too, as always, but that’s not what this post it about). The leaves are turning a deep orange and red, and I just drank my first cup of hot apple cider for the season. Life is good. There is rarely a day when something spiced or pumpkin flavored isn’t baking or simmering around here. I wanted to share a few good finds that I’ve tried so far.
We had a little brunch last weekend that went over very well. Elise and Jeff made delicious and adorable little breakfast cups, and hash browns. And I couldn’t resist trying a couple recipes I have been excited about: a Spiced Quinoa Apple Pie Parfait, and Pumpkin Spice Pull-Apart Bread. It was a rich morning, but we didn’t have much guilt because Elise and I have been running a lot lately. It was well deserved, and well worth it.
I also had to give these Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes a shot. I may have used a pancake mix (cause, ya know, when you have three hungry toddlers, you need a little short cut sometimes), but a pancake mix never tasted so moist, caramelized, and delicious. I just added a good amount of canned pumpkin, and some spices to the mix, and used the filling in the recipe. I will be making these again. They kids devoured them without any syrup or glaze, as did I. Though, I’m sure those things wouldn’t hurt. Or many they would.
A couple other pumpkin recipes I’ve tried are a Pumpkin Quinoa Bake (that I changed up a little bit), and a Pumpkin Spice Smoothie. Interesting and fun. I’m sure I’ll be ridiculously sick of pumpkin when the season comes to a close with all the recipes I have in store, but that’s fine with me. I’m very much looking forward to my old favorites like Pumpkin Bread, Wassail Cake, and many, many other fall recipes, both sweet and savory. My mom and dad just came into town! I’m sure they won’t mind trying a few new things with me.